Earlier
today, at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., it was announced that Sycamore Row by John Grisham was the
winner of the 2014 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.
Grisham
becomes the first multiple winner of the Award. He won the Prize in 2011, the first
year it was presented for The Confession.
The
Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction is one of the few book awards that I am
aware of that has criteria outside the quality of the book in the genre covered
by the award. The judges for the Harper Lee Prize are to determine which of the
books entered “best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power
to effect change”.
The
further criteria push readers to reflect on lawyers in contemporary society and
what we are doing, or not doing, to effect change for the better though “for
the better” is not a part of the criteria.
Last
week I put up a post in which I considered the three books on the shortlist:
1.) Sycamore Row;
2.) Once We Were Brothers by Ronald D. Balson;
and,
3.) The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Stroud.
This
year my choice for the winner is the same as the judges actually voting for the
Award. I also thought Sycamore Row
was the best book.
On
the University of Alabama Law School website announcement of the winner
Grisham, through his publicist who accepted the award for him, said:
"My thanks to the committee for the selection of
Sycamore Row," Grisham said. "I'm still admiring the
first Harper Lee award. It's hard to believe there is now
a second one. I am deeply humbled."
I hope Balson continues to write legal
fiction. He made a fine debut with Once
We Were Brothers. He joins another Chicago lawyer, Scott Turow, in writing
good legal fiction. (Turow has not won the Prize and has not been on any of the shortlists.)
Had Once
We Were Brothers been as good as Sycamore
Row I would have chosen it as Grisham is already a winner of the Award.
I look forward to the 2015 Harper Lee Prize
for Legal Fiction. It is becoming a highlight of my reading year to read the
shortlist for the Prize.
Congratulations
to John Grisham in 2014!
Thanks for sharing the news Bill - I read your earlier post with interest. As you imply, Grisham doesn't really need the award, but if it was the best book (as you said) then fair enough. I like the idea of this award, interesting and worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteMoira: Thanks for the comment. It is an Award I will keep following.
DeleteBill - Thanks for sharing this. I like the criteria for this award, and it's a fitting tribute both to Lee herself and to her Atticus Finch. Congratulations to Grisham.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. I think Ms. Lee had a strong social conscience as reflected in Atticus.
DeleteBill, this is a deserving award for John Grisham. I have enjoyed his books. Thanks for sharing this news with us.
ReplyDeletePrashant: Thanks for the comment. Grisham is one of my favourite writers of legal mystery fiction.
DeleteSo glad to find your site! I love mysteries, movies and books, and it is great to have someone who can suggest some very good ones. I've watched all the Sherlocks, Morse,
ReplyDeleteMarples ( though I'm from Canada) I did get hooked on the British Detectives...
However if it is a GOOD mystery I'll try some that you suggest on your blog! Thanks, love the work you do, sharing your insights and experience and ideas with others
Terry: Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate your comment. It is good to meet virtually another lover of mysteries. I hope you drop by again and provide further comments.
DeleteGlad Grisham won, but I have a feeling that Balson's book is important, too, given its social and political issues.
ReplyDeleteGrisham knows how to write a good book, that's it, with a great story, good character development and interesting characters, excellent dialogue and courtroom repartee, wit, mixed with some important U.S. history that needs to be told. He does this in a popular and winning way. He deals with a horrific crime, yet for Mississippi and other areas of the South, not an uncommon one. This legacy is not completely gone, unfortunately.
Congrats to Grisham. May he write 10 more excellent books for us to enjoy.
Kathy D.: Thanks for the comment. You provide a fine analysis on why Grisham has been so successful. I think we are going to be reading more than 10 excellent books by Grisham. I think some of his best books have been among his more recent. He has reached a level of popularity where I expect he can choose his story without interference from publishers.
ReplyDeleteI have got to read this book. Kathy D's recommendations and your posts have convinced me. I really want to read A Time to Kill first, but don't have a copy of either yet. I will check at the coming book sale first.
ReplyDeleteTracyK: I think you will appreciate Sycamore Row more if you read A Time to Kill first. I will be interested in your thoughts as I recall you grew up in the American South and would have personal knowledge of the era in which the books are set.
DeleteI agree with Bill that reading A Time to Kill first would add to appreciation of Sycamore Row, as the protagonist lawyer is older and wiser in the second book. He has developed over the books.
ReplyDeleteI hope to see more of Jake Brigance.
I've gone through Grisham reading jags, and read OK and good books. Some are quite complex and witty, as The Rainmaker, which uncovers insurance company schemes, quite relevant today. Another, The Chamber, taught me a lot about the death penalty system here.
Still others were just fun, like The Client and The Pelican Brief. And I have enjoyed others as well.
So, I wish for more good books and more of Jake.
And, since, we're talking about Grisham, I'll recommend again Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, who has the John and Renee Grisham Chair at U. of Mississippi. For anyone who hasn't read it, it's an excellent book about the South, poverty, racism, friendship and alienation. As much about the human condition as about a crime -- crimes, really.
Kathy D.: Thanks for the comment. I enjoy reading Grisham each year. I do not know another legal fiction writer who has been able to create so many different lawyers to be feature characters in his books. Crooked Letter Crooked Letter is a book I want to read but it will be quite awhile as I think of the TBR boxes.
DeleteI am going to get a copy of A Time to Kill soon so that I can read these books. I have read The Pelican Brief (because I loved the movie so much) and will probably reread it. Also interested in The Client, so thanks to Kathy for those recommendations.
DeleteFor Tracy, if you like lawyers mixed with good wit and an insurance company scheme, read The Rainmaker. I laughed so hard at that book's dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI think A Time to Kill is very good, certainly interesting and a social statement -- and it should be read before Sycamore Row. But the second book is more polished, characters more developed and well-rounded. And there is more humor. In fact, I wish I had not read it so I could look forward to reading it!
Thanks, Kathy, I looked up The Rainmaker. I will try to find that one too.
DeleteTracyK: The Rainmaker, both book and movie, are good. The story is one of the rare legal mysteries that actually explores the challenges in the pre-trial processes of a court action and not just the trial.
DeleteAnd good news for Griaham fans. A new book called "Gray Mountain: A Novel," will be released on Oct. 21. And it has a woman lawyer as the protagonist. Just up my alley.
ReplyDeleteShe leaves a Wall Street law firm to be a legal aid lawyer in Coal Country in Virginia. Lots
of evil doings there. Sounds wonderful. Can't wait.
Kathy D.: I will be getting the book before Christmas.
DeleteGood! I think I'll break down and buy it. The combinations of it being by Grisham, and having a woman lawyer lead character, and the plot dealing with the coal industry is too tempting for this reader.
ReplyDelete